Wednesday sees the first Queen's Speech for two years, which is a fairly long time to go without a state opening of Parliament. Absence won't make the heart grow fonder though - the 2012 Speech from the Throne is going to be a fairly tedious affair, with all of the eye-catching stuff pre-announced.

Labour are going to say the government has run out of steam and ideas - oppositions always say that. They'll have a bit more ammo than usual though because the line-up of Bills we're expecting isn't glamorous.

Truth is that ministers spent much of the last two years putting major reforms of health, education and the justice system through Parliament, and now they've got to implement those reforms.

They don't have time to be shepherding new legislation through the Commons. The other reason is that eons of time will have to be given up for the Lords Reform Bill.

Other bits that we're expecting aren't very exciting, but they will potentially have quite a big effect on people's lives. We're expecting a Water Bill from Defra, and since a lack of water affects millions of people in England right now it should garner some interest.

The top line from this Bill is that people will be able to switch water provider, just as they do electricity provider. The regulator Ofwat will be able to fine companies that don't do enough to fix leaky pipes.

There'll definitely be some kind of Energy Bill which will look at reforming the UK's energy market. Will this mean lower bills? Probably not. It's about trying to take the greenhouse emissions out of our electricity - this normally makes bills more expensive.

There could also be some work done on the Green Investment Bank, the body which will "green the economy" and which is expected to start work sometime next year.

Which brings us back to Lords reform. The latest rumour is that Cameron is planning to row-back on his opposition to a national referendum, and hold it in 2015 on the same day as the general election.

This, it's thought, would mean the Tories were keeping their end of the coalition agreement, without having the issue dominate the rest of the parliament. It would help to get Labour off the Tories' back in the Commons, and might take some of the sting out of the Lords.

Cameron needs to detoxify Lords reform. As one tweeter observed on Tuesday morning:

Nobody wins if Parliament gets clogged up with this. And then there's gay marriage, which is reportedly to be put on the back-burner. Downing Street has denied these reports vehemently, but they're being seen as a totemic issue by the sort of Tory MP which likes to make mischief for David Cameron.

Perhaps Cameron thinks he can delay gay marriage without losing too many votes. Opinion even among gay people seems quite muted, with many seemingly quite happy with civil partnerships and not exactly wild about adopting a heterosexual institution. If it was a choice between delaying gay marriage or abandoning Lords reform, the first option would be the easiest.

The risk is that losing either will make the PM look weak. Does he think for one minute that the sorts of Tory MPs who are moaning about him will suddenly shut up if he does what they say? This is the Conservative Party!

A run-down of the new Bills expected:

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The Bill follows the Government's commitment to establish a new ombudsman within the Office of Fair Trading, to enforce the code of practice between the major supermarkets and their suppliers. In May 2011 the Government published a draft Bill to create the Groceries Code Adjudicator. The draft Grocery Code Adjudicator Bill was considered by the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee thereafter. Having undergone pre-legislative scrutiny the Government has stated that it intends bringing forward final legislation when parliamentary time allows.
The Bill will implement a Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP) which will legally oblige retailers to establish an overarching fair-dealing provision and prohibit from making retrospective adjustments to terms and conditions of supply. It will also prohibit arrangements with suppliers that result in suppliers being held liable for losses due to shrinkage and oblige records of agreements and conditions of supply to be kept.
An independent ombudsman based in the OFT will be established to monitor the GSCOP and ensure compliance. Powers will be provided for the Government to introduce financial penalties for retailers should the GCA require them.

The draft House of Lords Reform Bill is currently being considered by a joint committee and the Queen's Speech is expected be dominated by a House of Lords reform Bill.
The plans would turn the 700-strong, mainly appointed second chamber into a 300-strong body, with 80 per cent of its members elected by proportional representation and 20 per cent of independent crossbenchers appointed. Nick Clegg had hoped that the first elections for the modernised Lords would take place on the same day as the general election in 2015. But it is likely the Bill will face a long battle in the Upper House and be one of the most contentious pieces of legislation in the Queen's Speech.

The Electoral Commission has repeatedly called for a change in the law to allow for individual registration, and provision was made for this by the last government in the Political Parties and Elections Act 2009. Registration in Northern Ireland has been on an individual basis since 2002.
During questions to the Deputy Prime Minister in February 2012, Nick Clegg confirmed that a bill on individual electoral registration was likely in 2012-13: "... we are going to invest a considerable amount of time on individual electoral registration, as we have in this Session on the plans for boundary changes."

At present, a Member of Parliament may have been found to have engaged in serious wrongdoing but would not be held to account by their constituents until the next general election, which could be up to five years away.
These proposals for recall, led by the Deputy Prime Minister, are aimed at ensuring MPs remain accountable to their constituents.
The draft Recall of MPs Bill is currently being considered by the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee

The Local Government Finance Bill, introduced by the Secretary of State on 19 December 2011, seeks to stimulate economic growth, reduce the financial deficit and decentralise control over local government finance. This legislation includes wide-ranging changes to the local government finance system, and complements a substantial package of financial measures to support local authorities and local economies.
The Bill will enable local authorities to retain a proportion of the business rates generated in their area, providing them with a strong financial incentive to promote local economic growth. It will also empower local authorities to carry out Tax Increment Finance, allowing them to borrow against future business rates growth.
In addition, the Local Government Finance Bill will give councils increased financial independence and a more substantial role in the economic future of their local area. It is hoped that the measures will also generate efficiency savings of approximately £500m.
Changes will also be made to Council Tax rules to allow local authorities more flexibility on the charges they can levy on empty properties

The Government has stated its intention to publish a draft Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny in Spring 2012, which will outline how the current audit regime and the Audit Commission will be replaced.

Further to the Energy Act 2011, the Government intends to introduce an Energy Bill in the second session of this Parliament in order to pick up areas that the 2011 Act did not include, such as Electricity Market Reform (EMR).
The Energy White Paper, Planning our electric future: a White
Paper for secure, affordable and low carbon electricity, published in July 2011, lays out the intention that "legislation will reach the statute book by spring 2013 so that the first low-carbon projects can be supported under its provisions in 2014."
The Government has proposed that the EMR package that will be included in future legislation should include a 'capacity mechanism'. This is in order to incentivise nuclear and new build by including capacity payments for generation. Other issues that may be covered by the Bill may include:
Provisions on the Green Investment Bank
New emissions standard for coal-fired power stations

The Water Industry (Financial Assistance) Bill was introduced to Parliament on Thursday 2 February 2012. The Bill contains two measures and will enable the Government to meet commitments made in the Autumn Statement 2011 and the Water White Paper: Water for Life.
The first is 'Financial assistance to reduce charges' which will allow the Government to assist South West Water to reduce bills by £50 per annum for all residential customers from 2013. The second measure will provide financial assistance for major works, such as extremely large water or sewerage infrastructure such as the proposed Thames Tunnel in London.
Water Bill
DEFRA has announced that it will "publish a draft Water Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny in early 2012 and introduce a Water Bill as soon as Parliamentary time allows".
The remainder of the measures proposed in Water for Life will be taken forward by this Bill, mainly aimed at deregulation to encourage competition and switching. The measures will allow any nonhousehold customer to put their water and sewerage services out to tender; make it easier for customers to switch their water and sewerage services between multiple suppliers; and make it easier for new companies to enter the market by relaxing the requirements and introducing a transparent wholesale access regime.
In terms of regulation, Ofwat will be given increased powers to gather information and impose financial penalties. Planning regulations will also be altered to bring water abstraction and impounding licensing, flood defence consents and fish pass approvals to be brought under the wider environmental consenting framework.
Subject to consultation, the Government is also considering raising the market referral threshold for mergers (to the Competition Commission) up to £70million, as well as possibly setting up a two-tier referral system to allow water companies to avoid referral to the Competition Commission.

It is expected that Croatia will accede to the European Union in July 2013. A Bill to ratify the accession will be required

The Government proposed phasing out the National Policing Improvement Agency in its consultation document Policing the 21st Century: Reconnecting police and the people (2010) and create in its place a new National Crime Agency. In response to the consultation, the Government asserted that it would not legislate for the new agency in the Social Responsibility Act 2011 but will "seek to do so at the earliest suitable opportunity".
A Draft Parliamentary Privilege Bill was mentioned in the 2010 Queen's Speech, which would "restore faith in parliament by ensuring the law which enables MPs to do their job is fair and adapted to modern circumstances".
The Bill will define and clarify the extent of parliamentary privilege whilst ensuring that freedom of speech is protected within Parliament.
A draft bill is due to be published by the Government in the course of this session.

A Defamation Bill will seek to strike a balance between protection of freedom of speech and safeguarding individual's reputations.
The Government is particularly concerned that the threat of libel proceedings frustrates scientific and academic debate and can impede responsible investigative journalism and the work undertaken by non-governmental organisations.
It also wishes to reduce the potential for trivial or unfounded claims and address an internationally held perception that British courts are an attractive forum for libel claimants with little connection to the UK. The Bill also hopes to encourage alternative dispute resolution and settlement in matters which currently would likely go to court.
The draft Defamation Bill was considered by the Joint Committee on the Draft Defamation Bill. Its report was published in October 2011. The Government's Response to the Report of the Joint
Committee on the Draft Defamation Bill was published at the end of February 2012.

This Bill, introduced in February 2012, will amend the law relating to capital and income in trusts. It has not been subject to a carry-over motion so the Government may seek to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the current session.
The Bill seeks to implement, with minor modifications, recommendations made by the Law Commission in its May 2009 report Capital and Income in Trusts: Classification and Apportionment.
It is hoped that these changes will help decrease the cost of administering private and charitable trusts, reduce litigation, decrease the regulatory burden on the Charity Commission and encourage the take-up of TRI.

The Government published its Justice and Security Green Paper in October 2011. It considered how closed material procedures could be developed in the UK to ensure that secret intelligence was not revealed in the course of court proceedings.
The Joint Committee on Human Rights is undertaking an inquiry on the Green Paper, and before it took evidence from the Secretary of State for Justice in March 2012, the Times reported that a Bill could be included in the Queen's Speech to allow courts to consider confidential intelligence in secret.
In his Green Paper, Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke proposes a system of "closed material procedures" where information considered too sensitive to be published could be used against defendants. He argued that the new system was necessary to allow the authorities to make use of material gathered by MI5 and MI6 that currently cannot be disclosed.
The proposals, however, have been poorly-received not just by the media and human rights groups, but by Liberal Democrats at the highest level. In a letter to fellow members of the National Security Council, Nick Clegg MP said that the proposals were too broad and must be scaled back before he and his party could support them. He said that clear limits were needed to define cases that could be heard in secret, limiting secret procedures to cases involving national security and terrorism. He also opposed secrecy in inquests.

This Bill is currently in Report Stage following a lengthy Committee Stage in the House of Commons, having been introduced by Theresa Villiers, Minister of State for Transport, on the 19th January 2012.
The Bill will be subject of a carry-over motion which means it can resume its progress in the next parliamentary session rather than having to start from the beginning.
The main thrust of the Bill is a number of proposals intended to modernise the regulatory framework for civil aviation in the UK through: reforms to the legislative framework for the economic regulation of airports; reforms to the legislative framework of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA); and conferring certain aviation security functions on the CAA.
The Bill also contains a provision to widen the Secretary of State's powers so that holidays sold by airlines or third parties could be included in the ATOL scheme in the future.
The current form of the Bill has been extensively trailed in previous consultation papers and a draft Bill, published in November 2011, went through pre-legislative scrutiny by the Transport Committee.

This Bill will be the subject of a carry-over motion which means it can resume its progress in the next parliamentary session rather than having to start from the beginning. It will give responsibility to the Bank of England for protecting and enhancing financial stability, bringing together macro and micro prudential regulation. It abolishes the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and creates a strengthened regulatory architecture.
This architecture consists of:
- The Financial Policy Committee (FPC) as a Committee of the Court of the Bank of England which will have responsibility for Macro-prudential regulation.
- The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) as an operationally independent subsidiary of the Bank of England with responsibility for micro-prudential regulation. The PRA will regulate institutions that manage significant risks on their balance sheets.
- The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as an independent conduct of business regulator with a strategic objective of ensuring that the relevant markets function well and operational
objectives focused on market integrity, consumer protection and effective competition.
The Bill will create a new crisis management regime which aims to provide greater clarity and accountability during times of crisis. This gives the Chancellor a new targeted power of direction over the Bank of England, which the Chancellor may deploy following a notification by the Governor of a
material risk to public funds.
In addition, the Bill introduces new Treasury powers to enable the transfer of responsibility for regulating consumer credit to the FCA. The existing powers and responsibilities of the FSA will be
transferred to the FCA and the PRA.
Banking Reform Bill
The Government has stated that many of the requirements set out in the Vickers Report will be included in a new Bill rather than in the existing Financial Services Bill. An announcement on this new legislation is likely to be made in coming weeks.
Banking reform will include a ring-fencing of domestic retail banking services. The ring-fenced banking sectors will be expected to have their own board and be legally and operationally separate from the parent bank.
The Government also intends to make it easier to move principal bank accounts. Banks will be obliged to publish the amount of interest that customers miss out on by having a current account on annual statements. In addition, the industry will be referred for a competition investigation in 2015.

Minister responsible: Iain Duncan Smith MP
Danny Alexander MP, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, has indicated that relevant legislation will be enacted by Parliament in the 2012-13 session to allow implementation of new schemes from 2015.
He outlined the main issue that would be addressed would be headline scheme terms.